Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Pictures from San Ramon and Alpha eight

Sunday, 15 March 2009

Pictures from San Ramon and Alpha eight

So here are the pictures from San Ramon and Alpha eight. The group had a huge party with the whole community to celebrate finishing the ocmmunity centre, and I can't wait to see pictures of the finished building and all the celebrations, but in the meantime, here's a few from our trip...

The view of San Ramon from the road...

The group hard at work...

Calum, Sophie, Libby, Polly, Cate and Sarah planning the mural...

And the final design...

The team take time out when the ice cream man pays a visit...

Szeman, Sarah and Julian, hard at work mixing cement...

Emma sketches out the mural...

Sophie, Polly, Max, Libby and Johannes painting

More painting...

The view of the community centre from the hill above the village...

Some of the local boys...

We visited Doris, one of the girls who lives in San Ramon and has been teaching the group to make tortillas and roast coffee, here she is on the right, with Julian and Sarah...

We also learnt how to make tortillas (a very specific technique is required apparently!) and so here's one I made earlier, as you can see I was very proud of my work!

Johannes teaching Alice some salsa moves in the evening

Johannes, Libby, Szeman, Emma, Sophie, Aloce and Cate enjoying some toasted marshmallows, supplied by the shop!

Sophie looking a little toasty after enjoying 'several' marshmallows (she spent so long next to the fire we were a little concerned she might actually melt!)

Calum enjoying some delicious Nicaraguan coffee in his favourite mug...

Johannes and Max

Szeman, Sophie, Emma, Cate, Oli and Polly...

The group in front of their nearly finished community centre. L-R Alice, Johannes, Polly, Oli, Max, Calum, Sarah, Maestro De Obra Noel, Szeman, Sophie, Cate, Emma and Libby.

The VMs hanging out in the new centre, Sarah, Libby, Amy (me) and Szeman.

9 comments:

Anonymous16 March 2009 at 02:00
Well done Alpha 8 - that's a community centre to be proud of - and thanks to the field base team for pictures. Sarah, you must be really pleased that you have seen the centre start and finish. Can't wait to talk soon.
Much love Mum xx
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Anonymous16 March 2009 at 09:30
well done alpha 8 !
the community centre is looking great.
really happy for those people at san ramon .
george cowan
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Anonymous17 March 2009 at 08:26
Calum you look well. Call soon and let us know what you will be doing next. Love Mum x
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Anonymous17 March 2009 at 14:18
To Cate,
Schat, wat een onwijs leuke foto's, wat hebben jullie goed gewerkt!!! Wordt helemaal gelukkig van die blije kop van je. Het is niet te geloven dat je al twee projekten gedaan hebt. Nu de grote "trek", maar eerst feesten in base-camp. Hoop je weer even te spreken.Ben thuis, dus gaat vast wel ergens lukken.
Love you, you know, kus veel, Mam
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Anonymous17 March 2009 at 15:05
Hi Sarah,
Am just practising on a new computer.
Hope everything is wellwith you and that you are enjoying yourself.What have you been doing?
Are you missig Andrew.His father and mother willbe dseeing him at the end of this week.
Love,Grandpa.
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Unknown18 March 2009 at 21:53
Can't wait to see you Max!!!!!
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Anonymous19 March 2009 at 10:05
hi colin spiller.it was lovely to have a chat on the phone on tuesday and to hear what a great time you are having love mum and dad xx
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Anonymous20 March 2009 at 15:53
lieve Emma, wat leuk om deze foto's te zien. En iets van jullie bouwactiviteiten. Het plezier straalt eraf en dat op een dieet van bijna alleen maar bonen. Ben benieuwd naar het resultaat van de muurschildering het ontwerp ziet er heel blij uit! geniet maar lekker op afstand genieten wij met je mee.
kus Mam
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Anonymous22 March 2009 at 15:28
lieve Emma, leuk om deze foto's al te kunnen bekijken. Wat een mooie muurschildering hebben jullie gemaakt, enig! Jullie plezier straalt ervan af en dat op een dieet van bonen..geweldig. Is Cate je nieuwe reismaatje voor straks? Fijn! Gek idee dat jullie nu al met je laatste deel bezig zijn, daar is ook al weer een foto van te zien. Geniet ervan en veel mooie ervaringen toegewenst. liefs, Mam
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Raleigh Lingo

Copy that?

Sometimes our Raleigh technical terms can be a tad confusing so we've put together a glossary for you blog followers. This will appear as a quick-reference section on the right-hand column so you can translate our Tico-terms into something a bit more palatable. And for those keen to brush up their Central American Spanish, we've included some handy translations. Here's a few to get you started...

Alpha, X-Ray and Zulu groups
(Grupos Alfa, X-Ray y Zulu)
The official name for project groups during the phases of CR&N 13A. Alpha will be out on project from 3rd to 23rd February, X-Ray from 24th February to 15th March and Zulu from 17th March to 5th April. Project groups are allocated during induction

Basha
Jungle ‘bed’: consists of a tarpaulin for shelter, a hammock and mosquito net. A basha is hung up between two trees and supported by rope, bamboo and canvas straps

Bodega
A Spanish word meaning store or warehouse

Bravo
A term of endearment for our hard-working Land Rovers. The four vehicles are officially, and imaginatively named Bravo One, Two, Three and Four

C.A.T.I.E.
The agricultural and development research institute on whose campus Fieldbase is situated. Find out more at http://www.catie.ac.cr/

Changeover (Cambio de Fase)
Two day period where all staff and Venturers return from their project sites for some respite before they are all reallocated and sent off to do it all over again...

Chicas, Chicos
Spanish term meaning girls (chicas) or guys (chicos) or both (chicos aswell). As in “Vamonos chicos!” or “Let’s go guys!”

Craic
A way to gauge how people are feeling, usually measured from 0 to 90. If your ‘craic’ is high, you’re pretty happy. If you announce a low craic, people will probably fix you up with an energy bomb and a nice big hug

CR&N 13A
Costa Rica and Nicaragua expeditions 13A

Day Leader (DL) (Líder del día)
Every day on project, one of the Team is designated DL – they are in charge of the day, including organising the day’s briefing, keeping group morale up, dealing with any problems, sticking to schedule and de-briefing at the end of the day. The DL role rotates round the whole group so everyone takes a turn

Energizer (Actividad Levanta Muertos)
An activity to gather the group together and raise energy levels. Can be used at the beginning of the day, or whenever a quick pick-me-up is required

Energy bombs (Explosión de azucar)
A trekking treat – mix together oats, raisins, condensed milk and chocolate powder and roll into little balls of gooey goodness to power you through the day

Fieldbase (FB) (Campo Base)
Refers to the Raleigh ‘office residence’ which is where the Fieldbase staff eat, sleep and work, whilst organising the expedition, manning the radios round the clock, supporting the projects, planning transport and logistics, keeping tabs on the finances and much, much more

Field Base Volunteer Managers (Equipo Logístico Voluntario del Campo Base)
Volunteer support staff for the expedition. The team looks after the ‘behind the scenes’ of the expedition and ensures everything runs smoothly. This consists of three permanent staff members - the Country Director, Country Project Manager and Country Expedition Manager - plus a team of volunteer staff including the, Medic, Photographer, Administrator, Finance Officer, three Logistics (logs) team members and the Communications Officer

Gallo Pinto
A traditional Costa Rican dish of rice and beans (yum!)

Icebreaker (Rompe Hielos)
A getting-to-know-you game

Longdrop (Letrina)
The camp loo. Literally a deep hole in the ground, it is one of the first tasks to complete when setting up jungle camp for obvious reasons! Short drops are similar, normally used for overnight stops when a shallower trench will suffice

Longs (Pantalones)
From 6pm onwards, we all don long trousers and sleeves to discourage the bugs that aren’t deterred by DEET

Maxis
Short for Maxi Pali, the stock-everything shop about a kilometer from Fieldbase where you can buy all those things you forgot/ran out of/lost

Nicas
An affectionate term referring to the native population of Nicaragua

Ninja
A popular game/energizer used by venturers and Project managers alike. Everyone stands in a circle and tries to hit the team members either side of them on the hand via a single ninja movements. Sound effects welcome

POPS
Legendary milkshake and ice-cream parlour chain found all over Costa Rica – perfect for a sweet splurge

Pork and beans (Frijoles con cerdo)
Another staple foodstuff for trekkers: tinned beans with a slightly sausage twang, served cold for lunch. Usually accompanied by dry cracker dust, sprinkled liberally on to the top. If you’re in a hurry, this can be consumed without cutlery straight from the can

Project Managers (PMs) (Guías)
Project staff for the expedition. Each of the groups has at least two PMs who work with the Venturers to develop skills, lead projects and challenge themselves

PURA VIDA!
A very special Costa Rican phrase that means hello, goodbye, I’m great, it’s good, pure life, basically any positive, feel-good thing can be Pura vida!

Radio check (Chequeo de Radio)
As well as a daily SITREP, all Alpha projects are required to complete a second radio call-in each day to check in, receive messages and report any developments

Review (Revisión)
A round-up that assesses how everyone feels, what went well and what needs work. This is sometimes an ‘activity’, sometimes a chat around the campfire, or sometimes just a bit of time to reflect. It’s an important part of everyone’s personal development so we make sure it happens every day

Roadtrip (Paseo Volando Rueda)
The logistics team and some of the Field Base team drive the Bravos on a loop round to each of the accessible project sites once per phase. They deliver kit, supplies, site visitors, messages from the blog and of course the all important post

Ropa Americana
Purveyors of the finest second hand American threads. Perfect for fancy dress/obtaining that long coveted college sports jersey

SITREP (Reporte de la Situación)
Literally Situation Report. A special radio message sent from the satellite project sites back to fieldbase once a day. It follows a certain format and includes all sort of handy information like where they are, what they’ve been up to, what they need and what they’re planning to do next

Tang
A fruity powder that is used to make squash. Jolly useful for taking away the chlorine taste of purified water

Ticos
An affectionate term referring to the native population of Costa Rica

Trangia (Mini Cocina)
A portable cooking stove. Used primarily for trekking, a trangia’s compact design makes it perfect for easy transportation. Literal translation in spanish - mini kitchen. Makes sense

Turrialba
The location of Fieldbase

Venturers (Aventureros)
Participants in the Raleigh expedition. Aged 17 to 24, they come in three varieties: Host Country Venturers (from Costa Rica and Nicaragua), Partnership Venturers (positive young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in the UK who participate in Raleigh expeditions as part of a longer term development programme) and UK and International Fundraising Participants (who work hard to raise money to contribute towards the charities work and expenses in order to take part in the expedition)

Wash up (Revisión Final)
The last few days of expedition, spent debriefing, returning equipment, performing skits, and most importantly enjoying the farewell party (tears alert)

Zero (Cero)
A radio term that identifies the radio controller at Fieldbase. Fieldbase monitors the radios 24-7, listening out on three frequencies for calls from our satellite project sites. When the radio alarm sounds, we might answer something like this: “Hello unknown call sign, hello unknown call sign, this is Zero, this is zero, do you copy, OVER?”